DESIGN STORY

The Incredible Creation Of The Sabertooth Z97 Mark S

Our Latest Masterpiece Is Made Of Creative Brilliance

Acclaimed Creativity Adorning Technical Supremacy

This stunning board's first appearance was at Computex 2014, where it was exhibited under the codename "Sabranco," a portmanteau of Saber and "branco" (the Portuguese word for "white") — and most every visitor expressed their desire to take it home with them. Now the finished beast is ready for your build and we've called it Sabertooth Z97 Mark S — "S" to indicate striking superiority.

Finely Crafted To Every Surface

To create the unique camouflage pattern, our engineers employed a premium printing technique — the world's first in the motherboard industry. This clever technology ensures an outstanding appearance with superior adhesion to even complex shapes – so Sabertooth Z97 Mark S will stay looking great long for its life time and the highlight for your PCDIY!

Infused With Unbreakable Tiger Spirit

The rear side of Sabertooth Z97 Mark S is adorned with two traditional Chinese characters that mean 'tiger spirit'. Sabertooth endured the most extreme conditions, from subtropical savannas to frozen mountains. Sabertooth Z97 Mark S is engineered with the same unwavering endurance – therefore it is infused with unbreakable tiger spirit!

Our Very First White PCB Motherboard

Sabertooth Z97 Mark S is the very first white PCB motherboard from ASUS TUF, adding an extra-special dimension that we know you'll love. And our innovative hydrographics technology means that Sabertooth Z97 Mark S retains its strikingly-white hue without discoloring!

Arctic Camo, TUF Ammo

We've designed Sabertooth Z97 Mark S to stand out — and boy does it make a visual impact! The snow-white color scheme echoes TUF's ultra-efficient cooling prowess, while the arctic-camouflage styling reflects the motherboard's extreme durability.

Limited-Edition Exclusivity – Numbered Just For You

Sabertooth Z97 Mark S is clearly very special with exclusive rarity. We're making limited numbers of these beautiful boards; each individually numbered. Exclusive, rare, strikingly arctic white and irresistibly tough — which number will be yours?

ULTIMATE COOLING

Arctic Camo Thermal Armor With Flow Valve

Total Airflow-Boosting Heat Dissipation

More than just a cool military-styled cover, TUF Thermal Armor employs dual fans to provide boosted airflow for rapid cooling. Reversible-airflow technology blows dust up and away from the heatsink VRM, while the exclusive flow-valve design controls the heat-pipe's air contact — great for liquid-cooling setups!

A Combination Of Form And Function, Z97 Thermal Armor Has Been Upgraded With Innovative Reversible-Airflow Technology That Literally Blows Dust Up And Away From The Heatsink And VRM!

The airflow channels created by Thermal Armor provide targeted cooling for critical components such as the VRM, chokes and capacitors. This cooling can further be bolstered by installing the included cover and I/O fans.

This Additional Cooling Can Be Optimized For Different CPU Cooling Scenarios.

By opening the two airflow valves, greater circulation can be achieved for air-cooling scenarios,

while closing the valves will focus the airflow into the Thermal Armor channels — ideal for systems using self-contained liquid CPU coolers.

Thermal Radar 2

Customized Fan Tuning, Complete System Cooling

Z97 Thermal Radar 2 now lets you control fans on ASUS graphics cards, as well your case fans!

Dust de-Fan technology spins Thermal Armor's assistant fan in reverse to blow particles out of the case. Multiple onboard sensors and the bundled thermistor cable let you monitor graphics card temperatures and other key components in real time, so you can adjust manually or optimize automatically with one click.

With the TUF IC Cool processor, you can be assured that monitoring of onboard temperature sensors and fan speeds is always ultra-accurate — whether you're adjusting settings manually or using the automatic one-click optimization.

TESTED RELIABILITY

ARCTIC CAMO TUF FORTIFIER

Improves Rigidity And Cooling Behind The Board

TUF delivers great strength and cooling via exclusive TUF Fortifier. A reinforced backplate ensures that the motherboard doesn't buckle under the weight of heavy graphics cards and CPU cooler, minimizing the risk of damaged circuitry form bowing and bending.

TUF Fortifier also includes a thermal pad that efficiently directs heat away from the VRM and other components - an innovation that reduces operating temperatures by up to 7°(C)!

Bolsters Boards Against Bending Damage

TUF Fortifier adds a strong backplate so the motherboard doesn't buckle under the weight of heavy graphics cards and CPU coolers. Reduced PCB bowing and bending means an end to potentially damaged circuitry.

Make The Whole Backplate Your Heatsink

TUF Fortifier uses a thermal pad attached to the motherboard, making the whole backplate a huge heatsink that directs heat away from key components such as VRMs and MOSFETs. TUF Fortifier also protects DIY builders from solder pins and other sharp motherboard parts – preventing annoying cuts!

TUF Components

Certified For Tough Duty

10K Ti-Caps:+20% Temp. tolerance and five times longer lifetime usage.

TUF New Alloy Chokes:13.6% Cooler for extra-unbeatable durability

TUF MOSFETs:military-grade certified MOSFETs with lower RDS(on)*

*Low RDS means more power efficient and will thus produce slightly less heat as a by-product of the MOSFET

White Dust Defenders*Repel The Dust, Expand The Lifespan

TUF design protects back I/O ports, expansion and memory slots plus critical connectors from dust and particles that degrade system performance over time if left unchecked. With a filter to ensure the back I/O fan doesn't draw dust into the board, Dust Defenders guards against dust build up, helping your PC perform in an optimal and stable state longer.

*PCIe and DRAM slot Dust Defenders in white theme.

DURABLE DESIGN

Server-Grade TestsSystematically-Tested Stability

TUF is proud to be a leading total solution provider. That means we test more than just the product itself — we examine system durability as a whole. Our motherboards undergo extreme temperature variations (thermal shock), extensive Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) tests and many whole-build server-grade stability tests — so you know that your TUF motherboard can be trusted in all conditions.

5-Year WarrantyGuaranteed Reliability

Each and every TUF motherboard is built with components certified for military use and undergoes serious server-level burn-in tests, including over 7,000 hours of compatibility checks with over 1,000 devices. TUF is forged solid for your confidence, which is why every board is covered by a 5-year warranty.

TUF ESD GuardsStrong ESD Protection For Extended Component Lifespan

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can happen suddenly, and its damaging effects are easily underestimated. TUF ESD Guards are tested to standards that are 30% higher than industry standards, ensuring electrostatic discharges are properly grounded from all onboard connectivity — and that means greater component longevity.

Audio Connectors: Capacitor protection on both front and back audio-output circuits.

LAN Port: ESD TVS diode protection on the LAN circuit bolstered by an anti-surge LAN connector that increases protection against extreme events, such as lightning strikes.

Media-Acclaimed The Most Intuitive UEFI BIOSThe smoothest mouse-controlled graphical BIOS is with improvements to both EZ and Advanced Modes. It benefits both the novice builder as well as the seasoned overclocker.

Last Modified Log:Track last change and save preferred profiles onto a USB drive!

SATA Port Renaming:Rename SATA ports for easy identification!

Cracked-Up Content Creation!

If design is in your blood, a TUF Z97 motherboard needs to be on your desktop! Exclusive USB 3.0 Boost technology drives data transfer at speeds that are up to 170% faster than standard, while SATA Express connectivity stores and retrieve data at up to 10Gbps. For you, that means slicker workflow every hour of every day – no more drumming your fingers waiting for images to transfer or files to save or load! You also get our exclusive Turbo LAN technology, which automatically optimizes your Internet connection for the fastest and smoothest possible file transfers. TUF Z97 even helps with your multiple-monitor setup, ensuring total stability right up to 4K/UHD resolutions!

Upgrade To Super-Fast Thunderbolt Speed Today

ASUS ThunderboltEX II series are the first Intel®-certified Thunderbolt™ 2 add-on card, offering the flexibility to upgrade your own build to Thunderbolt technology whenever you want. You can enjoy bi-directional transfer speeds up to 10Gbps* — that's four times (4X) faster than USB 3.0! Experience video in incredible detail on the latest 4K/UHD (ultra-high-definition) displays while using bandwidth-hungry storage devices at the same time.

TUF Audio Design

TUF Audio Design makes short work of optimizing audio settings for the way you want to listen, chatting, watching movies or relaxing to your favorite music. Onboard physical shielding, professional engineered design and premium components result in sound output that has exceptional clarity and fidelity.